Archive for Julio Borbon

The 2007 amateur draft was an exciting time if you were a fan of the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants, the Texas Rangers or the Toronto Blue Jays. Each organization had at least five picks before the second round, thanks to supplemental picks obtained for the losses of free agents the previous winter. It’s been five years since that draft, so it’s a good time to look back and see which team made out best with its additional selections.

1. San Francisco Giants: The organization found the best player out of the four clubs, a potential No. 2 starter and possibly landed a couple of future utility infielders. The club also flipped one of the prospects for a veteran infielder.

Madison Bumgarner, LHP, 10th overall: Drafted out of high school, the southpaw reached the majors in his third professional season — technically his second, since he didn’t pitch after signing in 2007. The 22-year-old has the ceiling of a No. 2 or a No. 3 starter at the big-league level and already has one 200-plus inning season under his belt.

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Today, we cast our gaze at three young outfielders who each made their debut last year: Julio Borbon, Michael Brantley, and Drew Stubbs. Vote early and often!

As for last Friday’s targets (total ballots in parentheses), we have Aaron Harang (172) pitching about 20 more innings in 2010 and netting about another half a win in value; Scott Feldman (154) conceding more than 50 points of opponent batting average over last year’s total and losing a win over replacement in the process; and John Lannan (159) using smoke, mirrors, and an 88 mph fastball to post a 2.3 WAR.

In this day and age of Internet coverage, it is hard for a player like Julio Borbon to get under-hyped. But that is exactly what has happened… and the deep minor league system in Texas is no doubt partially to blame. This speedy outfielder was selected 35th overall by the Texas Rangers in the 2007 draft. The former University of Tennessee star had a very nice college career and he actually slid a bit in the draft because of his adviser, Mr. Scott Boras.

Borbon held out after being drafted – of course – and appeared in just eight minor league games in his draft year. As a result, he entered 2008 with little pro experience. Undeterred, the now-23-year-old prospect hit .306/.346/.395 in 291 high-A at-bats and moved up to double-A where his numbers improved to .337/.380/.459 in 255 at-bats. Overall, Borbon stole 53 bases, but was caught 18 times. Unfortunately, his walk rate sat right around 5%, which is not really acceptable for a speedy/leadoff-type hitter. He did, though, keep his strikeout rate down around 11%.

This season in triple-A, Borbon got the ol’ walk rate up to 7.5% and really trimmed the strikeout rate at just 9.8%. Whether that is sustainable or not remains to be seen. It is impressive, nonetheless, given that it was done over 96 games. Borbon also posted a line of .307/.367/.386 in 407 at-bats. He stole 25 bases in 32 attempts.

Upon hitting the big time in Texas, Borbon has been on fire. Through 10 games, he’s currently hitting .485/.528/.636 in 33 at-bats. He’s also shown better instincts on the base paths with eight steals in as many attempts. Borbon’s small-sample-size numbers at the plate are clearly aided by the .652 BABIP but at least he’s taking a few more walks.

Clearly, Borbon is not this good. However, he certainly has the potential to be an above-average contributor to the Texas Rangers for quite some time. With limited power, Borbon has shown the ability to hit .300 and he has the speed to steal 40-50 bases in the Majors, especially if he cuts down on the caught-stealing rate. On the downside, he probably needs to show a little more patience at the plate to take full advantage of the offensive package that he offers. The club will certainly benefit by giving him playing time, as Borbon offers skills that are lacking on the club (plus outfield defense, blazing speed). His base-running antics could be especially valuable in the playoffs.

Player agent Scott Boras has been in the news a lot lately, with controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the signings of 2008 first round draft picks Pedro Alvarez and Eric Hosmer. You may be asking yourself, for the 15th or 16th time, why teams even bother to deal with Boras clients. Simply put, he represents some of the best talent in professional baseball, including soon-to-be pros.

On of those amateur clients, Julio Borbon, flew under the radar a little bit before the 2007 draft, thanks in part to his allegiance to Boras, as well as a poorly-timed ankle injury that ruined a good portion of his junior season. Despite that, the Texas Rangers still made Borbon a supplemental first round selection (35th overall) out of the University of Tennessee and signed the Dominican Republic native to Major League contract, complete with an $800,000 signing bonus. Only Boras could finagle a Major League contract for a player drafted outside the first round after coming off a poor season.

Borbon signed late in the 2007 season and managed to appear in just nine regular season games. In 37 at-bats, the speedy outfielder hit .189/.250/.216 with just one extra base hit and three stolen bases. Well, the real Borbon stood up this year. He was advanced to High-A ball to begin the season and hit .306/.346/.395 with two homers and 36 stolen bases in 291 at-bats. Borbon was then promoted to Double-A where he proceeded to hit .332/.371/.457 with five homers and 16 stolen bases in 247 at-bats.

The downside to Borbon is that his running game has shown some holes with him getting caught 11 times in 27 attempts at Double-A, but he has still stolen 52 bases on the season. He also has just 27 walks this season, which is far too few for a slash-and-dash, lead-off type hitter. The left-handed hitter is doing OK against southpaws at the Double-A level with a .281 average but his slugging average dips 100 points and he has yet to take a walk in that situation.

Borbon has quietly flown under the radar for more than a year now, but that is surely going to change soon. He could be making good on the Major League contract before you know it… Perhaps even before the Alvarez/Hosmer mess is settled.